CAPITAL MARKET
NGX Group Upholds Global Best Practices Ahead of Planned Listing by Introduction
In line with its commitment to uphold best global practices, Nigerian Exchange Group Plc’s (NGX Group or The Group) leveraged the Facts Behind the Listing of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX or The Exchange) to engage stakeholders yesterday ahead of the Listing by Introduction of its shares on NGX. The proposed listing, the NGX said in a statement, comes on the back of the successful completion of the demutualisation and restructuring of the former Nigerian Stock Exchange and its related operations within NGX Group. “Furthermore, In line with the practice of demutualized exchanges, NGX Group will be listing on the operating Exchange to support liquidity and enhance transparency. This Day
BANKING
Fitch affirms Wema’s issuer default rating B-, stable outlook
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Wema Bank’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B-’ with a Stable Outlook. Similarly, the National Long-Term Rating has been upgraded to ‘BBB(nga)’ from ‘BBB-(nga)’, reflecting the bank’s increased creditworthiness relative to that of other issuers in Nigeria The IDR of Wema are driven by its standalone creditworthiness, as expressed by its Viability Rating (VR) of ‘b-’. The VR reflects the concentration of the bank’s activities within Nigeria’s challenging operating environment, aggressive loan and balance-sheet growth – which it expect to continue over the medium term. It also reflects Fitch’s expectation of a significant improvement in capitalisation and leverage, due to a material rights issue due to be concluded by end-2021. The Sun
ECONOMY
W’Bank: Nigeria, 46 Other Low-income Countries’ Debt Burden Rose 12% in 2020 to $860bn
The debt burden of the world’s 47 low-income countries, including Nigeria, rose 12 per cent to a record level of $860 billion in 2020, according to a new report released at the on-going hybrid annual meetings of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC. The new International Debt Statistics (IDS) 2022 report observed that governments around the world responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with massive fiscal, monetary, and financial stimulus packages.
It added that while these measures were aimed at addressing the health emergency, cushioning the impact of the pandemic on the poor and vulnerable and putting countries on a path to recovery, the resulting debt burden of the world’s low-income countries rose 12 per cent in 2020. This Day
Budget: FG allocates N4.2bn to moribund Ajaokuta Steel
The Federal Government has allocated the sum of N4.2bn to the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited for the year 2022. This was disclosed in the 2022 budget details report obtained from the Budget Office. The PUNCH had earlier reported that the steel company had continued to receive regular budgetary allocations and disbursements in the past six years, despite being idle. It was reported that the government allocated a total of N20bn to the idle steel company between 2015 and 2021. According to the 2022 Budget details report, the sum of N3.9bn was allocated to cover personnel cost, N186.9m was earmarked for capital projects implementation while N75.3m will be expended on overhead. Punch
AfDB warns against Nigeria’s 73% debt service to revenue ratio
The African Development Bank (AFDB) yesterday, warned against Nigeria’s rising debt service to revenue ratio, urging the country to decisively tackle its debt challenges. This was even as he said AfDB will invest $3 billion in support of local pharmaceutical industries in Africa, including Nigeria. He further raised the alarm that Nigeria’s debt service to revenue ratio was high at 73 per cent AFDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who painted the dire economic situation of the country’s at the Mid-Term Ministerial Performance Review Retreat, held at the State House in Abuja, noted that things will improve as oil prices recover. The Sun
MTN explains service disruption, partners Ericsson, Cisco to fix hitches
Telecommunications firm, MTN has explained that the service outage experienced at the weekend by millions of its subscribers, across the country was caused by a disruption in the core network, which affected voice and data services. Recall that precisely on Saturday from 4pm, many users of MTN were unable to make calls, surf the Internet and stream videos. The challenges lasted for several hours. The problem affected subscribers not only in Lagos, but also in other parts of the country. However, MTN in a statement yesterday, confirmed that subscribers experienced challenges connecting to the network during the afternoon of October 9th. Guardian
